#9
Taeseong gathered clothes to change into and a towel, heading to the bathroom. When he opened the door, hot steam that had been filling the narrow, stuffy space rushed out all at once. The air was sweltering and the floor was still damp with moisture.
The dormitory bathroom’s ventilation fan was so crude it made one wonder if it worked properly, so the door had to be left open after showering. Otherwise, it would surely be covered with mold and water stains in no time. With such a small area, it didn’t seem like mold would take long to spread.
“…Again.”
Taeseong gritted his teeth. To make matters worse, the bathroom slippers left on the floor were thoroughly soaked. Irritation surged up, but since he was going to wash anyway, he tried to let it pass. However, as soon as he put on the slippers, moisture touched his toes. His nerves instantly stood on end.
He was going to wash soon anyway, but he couldn’t help getting goosebumps at the unpleasant sensation. This was all because Kim Bonoh had closed the door after showering. As he swallowed his irritation and tried to put his other foot into the slipper, he heard giggling from behind. When he turned his head, Bonoh was sitting on his bed looking at his phone.
“What’s so funny?”
Taeseong couldn’t suppress his irritation and spoke sarcastically.
“Huh?”
Bonoh, who had been giggling, lowered the hand holding his phone and looked up at Taeseong. His face showed he had no idea what this was about.
“Fuck.”
Taeseong muttered as if chewing on the words and went into the bathroom. With a bang, the door slammed shut hard, making the dormitory room quiet.
Bonoh, whose shoulders had flinched at the bang, blinked while looking at the tightly closed bathroom door.
“…What’s wrong with him.”
A few seconds later, the sound of dripping water came from inside the bathroom. Bonoh picked up his phone again. He opened his contacts and found ‘Political Science Joo Taeseong.’ After hesitating for a moment, he changed the name to ‘Room 309 Sunfish.’ A satisfied smile appeared on Bonoh’s face as he looked at the screen.
***
Room 309 Sunfish’s words that telling in advance wouldn’t make the noise any quieter had no flaws whatsoever. Just because Bonoh contacted him in advance didn’t solve anything. If he didn’t know, it was a natural disaster striking suddenly; if he was told, it just became waiting for a predicted disaster to arrive in a few hours. Naturally, Taeseong and Bonoh’s messenger became no different from disaster alert texts that Bonoh sent unilaterally. Even the lack of any replies was exactly the same.
[haha going in late today]
[going in late todayㅠ]
[late again today]
[lateㅠ]
[ㄴㅇ]
Taeseong, who was walking only the path of an exemplary student in solitary excellence, showed genuine disgust at Bonoh’s frequent drinking sessions. Of course, Bonoh hadn’t originally planned to have drinking sessions this often during the semester either. It was just that appointments had piled up—once with newly met people welcoming the new semester, once again with guys he drank with regularly.
Bonoh became a 1:59 AM man every other day, and even developed into someone who exchanged pleasantries with the security guard who locked the dormitory doors at 2 AM. This all happened in just two weeks.
[ㄴㅇ]
Bonoh sent another disaster text. Today he had a drinking session with Hyungwoo and Junghwan, who belonged to the ‘guys he drank with regularly’ list. The bar they’d chosen because it was supposedly quite famous was a place with dim lighting and loud music that made one naturally think they should never come again. Seeing Bonoh’s appearance—cramped into a plastic chair, holding his phone and typing just two consonants to send—Hyungwoo snorted. Then, despite obviously knowing he was sending it to Taeseong, he started talking.
“Is that your wife?”
“Ah, crazy, what are you saying, seriously.”
It was only a four-syllable sentence, but every element composing it was problematic. Not only did he use the backward word ‘wife,’ but knowing that Taeseong was a sturdy man over 180cm tall, and that they were worse than enemies let alone married, yet still talking like that was the most malicious part.
Bonoh barely held back the urge to take the spoon in his hand and smack Hyungwoo’s forehead with it. Instead, he thrust the spoon into the fish cake soup in front of him.
“I should file for an overnight stay today…”
“There’s no one here who can handle Kim Bonoh, hey.”
There was a reason Bonoh’s studio apartment had been the main meeting place before. Since both Hyungwoo and Junghwan commuted from home, that was the only place they could comfortably spend time. He could only sigh deeply. The thought of drinking moderately to reduce conflicts with Taeseong and the thought of just drinking as much as he wanted coexisted, tormenting Bonoh.
Even Junghwan was influenced by Hyungwoo and called Taeseong ‘wife.’ Bonoh felt inexplicably upset at words thrown like ‘does he nag you that much?’ Bonoh knew what he was doing was communal living villain behavior. Having brought up the topic for no reason, he felt a bit sorry that Taeseong might hear nonsense.
“He’s not that bad a guy. Living with him, the kid turned out better than I thought.”
Come to think of it, that was really true. Taeseong seemed not to be acting as sensitively lately. It was like that just recently. When he returned to the dormitory after class, he could hear faint singing from the 3rd floor corridor. For a dormitory, the soundproofing was quite good, and even with all the doors closed, hearing music in the corridor meant someone was playing music very loudly in their room.
Joo Taeseong would be horrified if he knew. Whoever it was seemed like someone who hadn’t met a roommate like Joo Taeseong. As Bonoh got closer to Room 309, listening to the increasingly clear music, he envied the person playing it. While he wasn’t allowed to make any sound, let alone music, the world was truly unfair.
With such thoughts, Bonoh opened his dormitory room door. Even before entering the room, just opening the door made the singing he’d heard in the corridor clearer. Bonoh was momentarily flustered and checked the door, but it clearly said Room 309. If he’d found the wrong room initially, the door wouldn’t have opened when he used his card key.
Was he playing music loudly because he was alone in the room? Bonoh thought as he entered the room. The music sounded even clearer once inside.
Huh? Bonoh doubted his ears at the familiar sound. It was a song he’d heard often since childhood. What, Joo Taeseong listens to songs like this too? The moment he had that thought, he made eye contact with Joo Taeseong. Even after confirming Bonoh had entered the room, Joo Taeseong didn’t turn off the music. Rather, he seemed to be closely observing his reaction.
Joo Taeseong is reading my mood too, what’s this about? It was always Bonoh who read Joo Taeseong’s mood, never the other way around, so it was even refreshing. Since it happened to be a song he liked and Taeseong had played the music first, which wasn’t bad, Bonoh hoped he wouldn’t turn off the music.
Learning that he played music loudly when alone in the room made Joo Taeseong feel more human. Plus, keeping it on meant listening together, right? A masterpiece like this was definitely worth it. While he hated loud noises, he also knew how to enjoy the virtues of such songs. The more he thought about it, the more unexpected it was.
Since he wanted to keep listening, Bonoh deliberately tapped his fingers and hummed for Joo Taeseong to see, but Taeseong turned off the music before long. The silence contrasting with the loud music made Bonoh feel regretful.
It was a few days later that he began to think this might be Joo Taeseong’s way of making a peace gesture. Since the music incident, Bonoh had been feeling a subtle intimacy toward Joo Taeseong. Perhaps because of that, even the dormitory room felt friendly. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed, but somehow the initially cold room atmosphere had become more like a place where people lived.
Savoring the comfortable feeling, Bonoh stepped down from his bed. Walking barefoot on the floor, he stepped on something. Like dust or crumbs. Bonoh asked Joo Taeseong with a bright expression if he hadn’t cleaned. Taeseong answered yes, looking somewhat haggard. Seeing his poor complexion, it seemed he’d been putting off cleaning because he was tired lately.
The moment Bonoh heard those words, he realized it was the answer he’d been waiting for. Joo Taeseong, who used to be sensitive to a single speck of dust, was finally acting human. Taeseong, who had been prickly at first, was clearly opening his heart more as he lived in the dormitory.
Of course, there were still moments when he wondered why he acted that way. But seeing that he knew how to listen to music and sometimes didn’t clean, it felt much more breathable. He even thought they might get along well at this rate.
“You say you want to stay out overnight but what. You’re acting innocent.”
“What innocent act? Hey, honestly I did do wrong.”
“Oh, you’re pretty well-trained.”
It had definitely started as a conversation to tease Bonoh. But the topic shifted to a crazy professor who left no room for complaint in classes and whose grading was merciless despite being a henpecked husband, then flowed to Junghwan’s ex-girlfriend as they wondered who was really the one being controlled. Bonoh, whose only ex-girlfriend was the one who had given him military leave, quietly kept his mouth shut.
“Hey, Kim Bonoh. What are you thinking about so much?”
“Huh, why?”
“I asked what your type was.”
“What type?”
“What did you even hear the conversation as? Your type in women.”
Notes:
[ㄴㅇ] – Korean consonants meaning “late” (늦음)
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
